Delaware & Hudson describes the company that ran the first steam locomotive in this country, and operated the first integrated transportation system in 1828, when it combined the use of a railroad and canal in an audacious scheme to transport Pennsylvania coal to New York City. The D&H first used Roebling's wire cable to operate its gravity railroad, and later used the same cables to build wire suspension aqueduct bridges to carry the canal over two rivers, and did all this years before Roebling would build the Brooklyn Bridge.

The book is filled with photographs, maps and engravings, with images on virtually every page. Although it is a book for railroad fans, it also works as a history of American technology and the history an American company which rode its use of technical inonovations to become one of this country's largest corporations by the middle of the nineteenth century.

I consider this one my biblical reference of our country's oldest continually operating railroad, the Delaware & Hudson. Jim Shaughnessy has done an excellent job of relating his research, and the photos and maps bring it all together.

It's great to see this book back in print. Buy it and read it if you have any interest in canals, coal mining, or the history of one of the US's oldest railroads!

I'd never heard of John Yount before I picked up Hardcastle, but from the first page, I knew I could be in the grip of a special writer. Hardcastle is a simple but dramatic story, a sort of morality play, set in an rough Kentucky coal mining town during the Depression. The writing is also simple, but in the best sense, the way that the novels of some of the best American writers, like Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Elmore Leanord, are written simply. Every page rings with honesty and Yount offers some startling insights. The ending is strong and haunting. I was disappointed when it was over.

The book has been compared to The Grapes of Wrath for its portrayal of life during the depression. It should be. Yount is one of the few living American writers who can combine power and grace in his prose, all while weaving a tense, extraordinarily powerful narrative. It's a shame that his other books - The Trapper's Last Shot and Wolf at the Door - aren't in print any longer.

Raymond Carver loved this book, and after you read the first three pages, you will see why. This is a superb novel about the friendship of two men during the Depression. The men work as guards against union organizers at a Kentucky coal mine. Their dilemma is whether to turn away from the abuses of the coal miners or to join their struggle. In swiftly moving chapters that snowball into an unforgettable climax, Yount tells how the men are tested. You will be tested too.

Hardcastle is a book that was meant to be talked about, and if you're in a reading group, it would be an excellent choice. I have not read a more human and moving novel in several years. And not only that: Yount's writing crackles and sings with local color, feel, and humor. A brilliant novel!

I've read many books and only a few gave me that sense of urgency on reading it twice. Coal is at the top of my list when it comes to action, history, and pure adventure when reading a fictional book. I encourage everyone to read this work of art Jason Grant put together; I read this book once and I yearn to read it again and again!!

THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE TO READ, THE BOOK CAPTURES YOU FROM BEGINNING TO END. IT'S SO REAL THAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY THERE WITH THEM.

This book reads extremely well from front to back. Lanquage as well as the story flows smoothly. Full of action and vigilante type justice which was par for the course at the time of the story. The main character in the book was described so vivdedly, and his life from a small boy to a man goes along unimpeded. This is one that should have made the big screen in Hollywood. I probably will read it several more times.

Coal Camp Boys by Raymond Alvarez shares more with the reader than just words. Raymond imparts a wide range of feelings throughout the story. I find myself impatient for the next page and will yearn for more at the conclusion of this volume. Please include illustrations. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

Alvarez, a keen observer of the West Virginia coal mining culture, has captured it sypathetically, without being sappy or sentimental. I have read many fiction and non-fiction works set in the Appalachians (my college major was Appalachian Studies), and this one is thorough, engaging, picturesque, hopeful, and I can't wait for the sequel.

Coal Camp Boys, By Raymond Alvarez is a great book. It is very detailed and makes you feel as if you are really part of the book. I also love it because the characters really remind me of some people i have actually known .

"Memories From Dante: The Life of a Coal Town" is far more than just a trip down memory lane of a small town in the coal fields of SW VA. The detailed oral histories and the huge number of photographs do provide those living in the area with the chance to renew old memories but it also provides researcheers and scholars with a social, economic, political, religious, and family history of the town and area. Anyone interested in a comprehensive study of a coal town needs this book. I especially recommend it for libraries and archives. Kathy Shearer has done a remarkable job of helping the people of Dante tell their story. Perhaps she never saw a lumb of coal before she came to the area (all the Dante mines are closed now) but the town and its elderly residents live in her book. Without any sense of superiority she has enpowered these people to tell the world what it was like to live in a time and a place now largely forgotten.

This Book took me back to a childhood that many of us only wish we could revisit. Kathy Shearer was able to catch the history of a wonderful little coal town and bring it to everyone's attention. People who grew up in a small town will be able to relate and relive the pleasures of a hometown community. Kathy Shearer took us all back to a time of childhood happiness. This is a wonderful book to read and learn of the struggles these people lived while trying to make a living mining coal and how they held on to each other for support and survival.

I bought this book thinking it's just another novice trying to write about something they know little about, but what a suprise when I started reading it. Kathy has done a thoroughly wonderful job describing these hard working, hard living and honest people in such vivid color you become friends with them instantly.
They become your family, and you love them, laught with them, cry with them, and hate them but you cannot forget them.
She is a first class writer and deserves high praise for a book which is both entertaining and historically founded.
I am just waiting for the sequel.

This book was a great blessing to me as I walked with the characters in their personal struggles. It has a ring of real life experiences in the struggles culminating with real victories. A lot of truth is packed into this small book.

This is a wonderful little book with the message of love and hope!

I laughed and cried with this book

What a wonderful book! Author Richard Easton weaves a charming story and fast-paced tale that tells of two boys who learn how to build friendship in spite of enormous social barriers; who discover how to acknowledge their faults and forgive each other; who realize that by courageously doing the right thing, a young person can have a big impact on his family and the wider society. A Real American is To Kill a Mockingbird for kids. I plan to give it to each of my six grandchildren as an investment in their learning to love good books and in their simply learning to love.

I love the book! It is beautifully done, and the two young boys are wonderful characters that pull you in immediately. The entire time I was rooting for Nathan to make the right decisions and he did. Arturo is a loveable young man that has the dignity and enthusiasm for life that I wish all children possessed. Their relationship is the heart of the book, but the history and the social/ family tension is a wonderful thread throughout the novel.

This novel not only descriptfully shows the past, but also puts you in the shoes of an eleven-year-old, Nathan McClelland. There is very good character development, which makes the entire novel even more believable. This book is refreshing, and don't except to be able to put it down.

How could historians have overlooked such an important and colorful piece of American history? The book is a fast read and filled with vivid descriptions. Once you read it, you won't be able to believe that something like this happened in America.

This book is probably the most complete and balanced view of the Mine Wars in West Virginia, an almost unknown yet significant part of American history. It details how and why things happened and gives very vivid accounts of the struggles of the day in the coalfields. This was the largest insurrection against our Federal Government outside of the War Between the States, and was the only time bombs have been dropped from planes on American soil. A must read for anyone interested in Appalachia or coal mining.

I really enjoyed this fascinating account of the coal wars of west virginia. Not enough has been reported about the events that occured there, and this book sheds light on the subject.

"Anna Christie," the play by the great U.S. writer Eugene O'Neill, won the Pulitzer Prize for the 1921-22 theater season. All these decades later, the play still packs an emotional punch. "Anna Christie" focuses on three characters: Anna, who has had a traumatic life in the United States; her father Chris, a Swedish merchant seaman; and Mat Burke, an Irish stoker who takes an interest in Anna. The play takes place in New York City and on Chris's barge.

"Anna Christie" is a compelling study of gender roles and expectations, ethnic conflict in the U.S., family ties and disruptions, the call of the seafaring life, and fatalism versus the embrace of free will. Particularly interesting is O'Neill's representation of various types of vernacular speech. Overall, a classic American play that deserves an ongoing reading audience.

Amazing!!! The characters were wonderfully acted out and the relationship between father and daughter was such a gripping story.

It's about time this book is written. I remember that day very clearly. I was only 11 years old and did not know if my father was alive or dead. Thank God he survived, he was one of the last survivors....John Gadomski and his half brother George Mazur.

This was very good for my project

Provided much information about the Knox Mine. It was a big help with my research paper.